Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Speeding Ticket Robots To Cite Autonomous Cars?
Could you write a program to issue speeding tickets automatically? And if you did, what factors would be used to mitigate autonomous law enforcement, if any? Academics from West Point and Samford University in Alabama assigned it as a problem to student programmers, asking them to go beyond the parameters for an automatic ticketing device at intersections (which already exists).
The widely-varying interpretations by reasonable programmers demonstrate the human filter (or "bias") that goes into the drafting of the enforcement code. Once drafted, the code is unbiased in its execution, but bias is encoded into the system. This bias can vary widely unless the appropriate legislative or law enforcement body takes extra precautions, such as drafting a software specification and performing rigorous testing.
An automated system, however, could maintain a continuous flow of samples based on driving behavior and thus issue tickets accordingly. This level of resolution is not possible in manual law enforcement. In our experiment, the programmers were faced with the choice of how to treat many continuous samples all showing speeding behavior. Should each instance of speeding (e.g. a single sample) be treated as a separate offense, or should all consecutive speeding samples be treated as a single offense? Should the duration of time exceeding the speed limit be considered in the severity of the offense?
In the fine tradition of academia, their paper resulted in more questions than answers, of course, particularly in terms of the societal cost of automated law enforcement when involving artificially-intelligent robotic systems unmediated by human judgment.
However, modern-day academics must take a back seat to science fiction writers on this issue. In his excellent 1941 novella Old Fireball, Golden Age sf great Nat Schachner describes a dashboard device that could automatically issue you a ticket right in your car:
In John Jacob Astor's 1894 story A Journey in Other Worlds, there is a reference to instantaneous Kodaks which could be placed on a road for speed control.
Via An Experiment in the Law as Algorithm (pdf) and Ars Technica.
These programmers were provided with real-world driving data extracted from the on-board computer of a commuter's automobile (a late model Toyota Prius) and a second dataset providing manually-constructed, but realistically-derived, speed limit information. Given this data, the first group was asked to implement “the letter of the law” and issue traffic citations accordingly (the datasets are available online). The second group was asked given an additional, carefully-crafted, written specification from which to base their software implementation. Both a computer scientist and an attorney reviewed this specification for accuracy. The specification was also verbally briefed to the third group to further clarify the requirements. The programmers had two weeks to complete the assignment.
Kerry looked obediently at the little oblong screen above the dashboard. On it, flashing neatly, was imprinted a summons for violation of the traffic laws. The photoelectric eyes at each crossing had clocked the gyro's speed. As it passed the legal limit, the automatic mechanism recorded the offender's license, sent out the impulses that printed the summons in the offender's cab.
(Read more about the automatic speeding fine)
The policemen on duty also have instantaneous kodaks mounted on tripods, which show the position of any carriage at half-and quarter-second intervals, by which it is easy to ascertain the exact speed, should the officers be unable to judge it by the eye; so there is no danger of a vehicle's speed exceeding that allowed in the section in which it happens to be; neither can a slow one remain on the fast lines.
(Read more about the instantaneous Kodaks)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/10/2013)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")
Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
Darpa 'Defiant' Unmanned Autonomous Ship
There was no wheel, and no steersman!' - Miles J. Breuer, 1930.
DNA Printed Book By Isaac Asimov Now Available
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!' - Barbara Hambly, 1982.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
Darpa 'Defiant' Unmanned Autonomous Ship
'There was no wheel, and no steersman!'
What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...'
DNA Printed Book By Isaac Asimov Now Available
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!'
AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.'
Space Traffic Management (STM) Needed Now
'...the spot was a lonely one in an uncharted region, far from the normal lanes of space traffic.'
Fine-Tune Your Infinite Book The Way You Want It
'I squatted down beside the roller and tried to make some sense out of the knobs. There were thirty-nine of them...'
SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm
'Beware the long, flexible, glittering tentacles...'
Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month
'...I don’t understand technical things — tell me, does it ever feel anything?"
Stratospheric Solar Geoengineering From Harvard
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
